IPO Preview | Audioway's Second Listing in Hong Kong: Smart Sensor Circuit Leader, How Can It Cross the “Red Sea” of the Industry?

From self-alerting robotic arms in smart factories to the “hot eye” in speeding autonomous vehicles, the source of all these smart scenarios is inseparable from a tiny “sensory nerve” — an intelligent sensor. As the wave of 5G and AIoT sweeps through thousands of industries, smart sensors, which are the cornerstone of industrial intelligence, are entering a period of rapid growth.

Recently, Guangdong Audioway Sensor Technology Co., Ltd. (920491.BJ) (hereinafter referred to as “Audioway”), which has been deeply involved in this field for more than 20 years, launched a second listing in Hong Kong with the aim of seizing an advantageous position in this “battle of perception” using the power of the capital market.

Steady growth in performance, concentrated business structure

According to the prospectus, Audioway is a provider of intelligent sensing and precision execution solutions. Its business covers the fields of smart homes, smart cars, smart terminals and intelligent manufacturing. It uses the IDM (Integrated Device Manufacturing) model to achieve vertical integration from sensitive materials, transducer chips, and algorithms to precision manufacturing, and has built an autonomous and controllable technical chain.

The company mainly provides various customized sensors, precision miniature actuators and related module products. According to Frost & Sullivan's report, in 2024, the company was at the top of many market statistics: smart home sensor revenue ranked second in China; automobile ultrasonic sensor and actuator shipments ranked third in the world; total sensor shipments ranked fifth in the Chinese market; and automobile sensor shipments ranked third in China.

Furthermore, the company has achieved mass production of next-generation AKII automotive ultrasonic sensors. This product can support ADAS/AVP functions, and the company has also become one of the first domestic enterprises to mass-produce such sensors. Based on its product layout and technology integration capabilities, the company is committed to expanding market applications in various scenarios where artificial intelligence interacts with the physical world.

In terms of performance, the company's revenue has maintained rapid growth. In 2022, 2023 and 2024, Audioway's revenue was 378 million yuan (RMB, same below), 467 million yuan and 617 million yuan respectively, with a CAGR of 27.8%.

Looking at the breakdown, Audioway is currently focusing on four core solution scenarios, namely smart home solutions, smart car solutions, smart terminal solutions, and intelligent manufacturing solutions. Among them, smart home and smart car solutions form the current business foundation.

Looking at the revenue structure, from 2022 to 2024, smart home solution revenue continued to grow, from 200 million yuan to 344 million yuan, accounting for the share of total revenue from 53.0% to 55.7%, contributing the largest share of the company's revenue source. At the same time, the company's smart car solution revenue also increased steadily, from 162 million yuan to 256 million yuan, accounting for more than 41%, making it the second largest revenue pillar. The revenue scale of smart terminal solutions and smart manufacturing solutions is relatively small, and they are still in the initial development stage.

As of the first half of 2025, revenue from smart home solutions reached 1.86 yuan, accounting for a further increase of 56.9% of total revenue, continuing to maintain a dominant position; revenue from smart car solutions was 125 million yuan, accounting for 38.3%. Although it declined slightly, it was still an important part of the company's revenue. In addition, the share of revenue from other business segments fluctuated slightly, and the overall revenue structure was still dominated by smart homes and smart cars, showing the company's deep layout and market competitiveness in the smart hardware field.

Revenue grew steadily, but the company's profitability fluctuated slightly. In 2022, 2023 and 2024, Audioway's gross margins were 34.9%, 38.0% and 34.8%, respectively. In response, the company said that fluctuations in overall gross margin were mainly affected by increased competition in the domestic automobile and parts supply chain. However, benefiting from the increase in revenue scale, the company's profit continued to grow during the year. In 2022, 2023 and 2024, it was 52.618 million yuan, 76.978 million yuan, and 93.951 million yuan, respectively, with a compound annual growth rate of 33.6%.

The market prospects are broad and the competitive landscape is fragmented

From an industry perspective, sensors and actuators are the core of a closed loop of “perception - decision - action”, and the market prospects continue to improve.

In recent years, the global and Chinese sensor markets have continued to grow, expanding from about US$189.1 billion and RMB 292.9 billion in 2020 to US$237.1 billion and RMB 398.3 billion in 2024, with compound annual growth rates of about 5.8% and 8.0% respectively. In the same period, the global and Chinese actuator markets also grew from US$262.1 billion and RMB394.5 billion to US$30.5 billion and RMB49.1 billion respectively, with compound annual growth rates of approximately 5.2% and 6.1%, respectively. It is estimated that by 2029, the combined global market size of the two will reach 703.6 billion US dollars and 1209.6 billion yuan.

In the smart home field, sensors and actuators are at the core of implementing automated functions. In 2024, the global market for sensors for smart home products and actuators for smart home products will be approximately US$23 billion and US$45.9 billion respectively. The size of the Chinese market is also remarkable. The corresponding market size for the same year reached about 44.9 billion yuan and 86.5 billion yuan respectively. As intelligent functions continue to be integrated into the residential environment, as well as IoT connectivity, energy efficiency, and user-centered automation technology, the global market size of sensors and actuators for smart home products is expected to reach approximately US$87.9 billion and RMB 195.6 billion in 2029.

The automotive sector is another important market. In 2024, the global automotive-specific sensors and automotive-specific actuators market reached approximately US$45.7 billion and US$40.6 billion respectively, reflecting compound annual growth rates of about 6.2% and 4.1% between 2020 and 2024. In the same year, China's automotive-specific sensors and automotive-specific actuators reached about 89.5 billion yuan and 86.7 billion yuan respectively. The corresponding compound annual growth rates between 2020 and 2024 were about 11.0% and 5.8%, respectively. With the spread of new energy vehicles and the development of autonomous driving technology, demand for in-vehicle sensing and actuation systems continues to rise. Among them, ultrasonic sensors play an irreplaceable role in short-range detection. In 2024, the global and Chinese markets are about 7.2 billion US dollars and 13.4 billion yuan respectively. It is expected to grow to 11.3 billion US dollars and 22.6 billion yuan respectively in 2029. It is estimated that by 2029, the global market size of sensors and actuators for the automotive industry will reach approximately US$108.9 billion and RMB 247.7 billion respectively.

Judging from market competition, the sensor market is fiercely competitive and highly fragmented. According to Frost & Sullivan data, in 2024, China's top five sensor suppliers will only account for about 5.4% of the market share in terms of global sensor shipments. Although the company ranks fifth in the industry, its market share is only 0.1%.

Taken together, Audioway has built its own competitive barriers on sensors and actuators, with its stable layout in the smart home and smart car field, full-chain technical capabilities under the IDM model, and leading rankings in many market segments. Facing broad and growing market prospects, its second listing in Hong Kong was not only a strategic move to seek capital assistance to consolidate its advantages, but also a key step in deepening technology research and development and expanding diverse application scenarios to seize structural opportunities under the AIoT wave.

However, profit fluctuations due to the highly fragmented industry and increased competition also suggest that the company needs to continue to improve between scale expansion and technological leadership. In the future, whether Audiowell can more fully transform its technological accumulation and market position into continuous and steady profitability and long-term value will be the key to its decisive victory in the “perception” battle.